Ross McCormack cost Aston Villa £12m from Fulham a little over 12 months ago – what the thoughts on him were then and now.
Ross McCormack of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his side’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match against Huddersfield Town.
On 4 August 2016 and in a bid to bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, Aston Villa paid Fulham £12m for Ross McCormack (BBC).
With a decent scoring record with Cardiff City, Leeds United and the Cottagers on his CV, many fans viewed the move as a positive one – despite the hefty financial outlay.
A goal and an assist in his first three Championship matches was a solid start to McCormack’s Villa career, but as results faltered so did the forward’s form.
By October Roberto di Matteo had been sacked and replaced by Steve Bruce and in January things turned sour being player and manager.
Steve Bruce, manager of Aston Villa.
“In my opinion he is not fit enough to play and he will not play unless his attitude towards training and missing training improves,” Bruce was quoted by the Guardian in January after revealing McCormack had missed training after claiming his electric gate would not open.
By the end of that transfer window the 31-year-old was on loan at Nottingham Forest having scored three goals in 22 games for the Villans. The attacker was also disappointing at the City Ground, finding the net once in seven appearances.
This summer McCormack was being linked with former club Leeds and Sunderland, having failed to convince Bruce he was now up to the challenge.
“I’ve opened the door in pre-season for Ross but he hasn’t done enough to warrant a place in the side,” the 57-year-old told the Birmingham Mail.
“There’s others above him in the side right now.”
So what do the supporters think of McCormack 12 months on?
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